Collected Studies: Jewish Doctors in the Middle Ages

In Collected Studies (Volume 4): Jews in the Medical Profession, Joseph Shatzmiller, the prominent scholar of Provence Jewry, presents a fascinating glimpse into the world of Jewish doctors and medicine in medieval Western Europe. Drawing on a wealth of archival sources and intellectual history, Shatzmiller delves into the lives and experiences of Jewish physicians who played a crucial role in the medical profession during the Middle Ages. From their scientific collaborations with Christian colleagues to their role as leaders within the Jewish community, this book provides a rich portrait of the complex and dynamic world of medieval medicine. The book covers topics such as the Jewish students in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Montpellier, Jewish women in medicine, doctors’ salaries, pharmacology, and medical books. With its insightful analysis and meticulous research, Jews in the Medical Profession is a valuable contribution to the history of medicine and Jewish studies. “The collection of studies that these four volumes offer is the result of more than sixty years of commitment to scholarship. Like many colleagues, I relied in the beginning on printed material in books that dealt with law, religion, and secular literature. Then, as a disciple of George Duby, I discovered the world of archives and hand-written Latin manuscripts. The present collection relies, to a great extent, on previously unknown information discovered during years of search in the archives of Southern France, mostly on those of the county of Provence. They are situated in the cities of Marseille and Aix-en-Provence as well as the town of Digne. The legal registers of the High Middle Ages (1250-1350) as well as those produced by the counties’ administration introduce us to the ordinary people of the region, to their daily life and to their preoccupations; their names are spelled out, the dates are recorded and the localities in which they were active are designated. At times these documents encourage us to endorse information found in contemporary literary sources and to overcome our hesitation and excessive caution concerning their value as historical evidence.” — Joseph Shatzmiller